slowed, and the doors opened to the other couple’s floor. The lady offered a cursory good-night to everyone, then stepped out with her husband, leaving me alone with the two guys and my thoughts.
Pike stayed where he was, but Foster crossed over to the other side and turned to face me. “Cela, look at me.”
With a sigh, I dragged my gaze upward.
“Tell me what you need from us. I’m not stepping out of this elevator if I think you’re going to be white-knuckling your way through this. I want you to enjoy tonight.”
I held his stare, willing myself to say something, anything. The last thing I wanted to do was go home. But I also couldn’t bring myself to tell him what was knotting me up. Speak, my brain shouted. The loud ding of the elevator was like a clap of thunder in the silence. The doors slid open with a smooth whir.
Foster reached out and pressed the Door Open button but made no other move. Pike glanced at me, questions in his eyes. Neither of them were going to step out until I said something.
I wet my lips, and my throat seemed to narrow. Panic was edging in now that the moment was here. No, no, no. Don’t back out now. I thought back to the cab, the way I’d felt when Foster had touched me, and how he’d taken what he wanted without asking. The shock of that had shut down my brain, had pulled me deep into those minutes and scared off any errant thoughts. It’d just been a taste, but I wanted more of that, more of that free fall.
I forced my fingers off of the bar behind me. If I was going to jump, I couldn’t keep ahold of anything. My eyes stayed focused on Foster, on the commanding set of his jaw. “I had a bad experience the last time I was… with a guy. I fumbled a bit, things were awkward, and he made fun of me. Not in a playful way.”
Anger flared in Foster’s eyes. “What an asshole.”
“And an idiot,” Pike offered.
I gave a little smile. “Definitely. But even knowing it was him who was in the wrong, it’s left me a little gun-shy.”
The door tried to shut, but Foster pressed the button again. “You have to know that we would never disrespect you that way, and I kind of wish I had the address of the jerkoff who did that to you, because I’d like to pay him a visit and teach him some manners. But beyond that assurance, is there anything else you need to feel more comfortable? We can take things as slow as you want.”
I looked up at him again, the rest of the story hovering on my lips. I knew I should spill it. It was the right thing to do. But if I told him the whole truth, it would ruin everything. It wasn’t worth the risk. He said he liked a girl who wasn’t afraid to ask for what she wanted. I could do that. I knew what I hoped for tonight, had heard all I needed to know listening to Foster through my thin wall. Now I just had to say it aloud. I flexed my fingers, trying to shed the nerves. “I don’t want to make any decisions tonight. I need you two to take over. Tell me what to do. I don’t want to be asked each step of the way.”
Foster’s shift in expression was like dark falling over snow-covered fields, icy calm and inescapable. His nostrils flared as he inhaled a slow breath. “Cela, are you sure you know what you’re asking?”
“Yes,” I whispered.
His eyes stayed locked on mine, unblinking, intense. “Do you know what a safe word is?”
I couldn’t even shake my head, it was as if his gaze was holding me in some suspended state. “No.”
“If either of us does something that you want to stop immediately, you call this word and we’ll stop, no questions asked,” he said, his voice disconcertingly calm. “That’s the only power I require you to keep. Everything else, Pike and I will gladly take tonight.”
A heavy shiver worked its way through me, the thought of really surrendering everything to these two guys was a dark fantasy I’d barely had the nerve to admit to myself. “Okay.”
He stepped to the right, putting his back against the straining elevator doors and held out his hand. “Your safe word is tequila.”
“Tequila,” I repeated. I looked down at his open palm. This was going to be my last decision of the night. And it was one that felt more right than anything had in as long as I could remember. I took Foster’s hand, then reached back for Pike’s with my other. Pike smiled and laced his fingers with mine.
I left my free will in the elevator and watched as the doors closed, whisking it away.
Now I was theirs.
Foster backed his way through the hotel room’s doorway, tugging me and Pike with him. Before the door even clicked shut, Foster’s mouth was on mine, his hand cupping the back of my neck, his tongue exploring and stroking. The kiss was more fervent than the one in the club, more purposeful—controlled violence. I could almost feel restraint vibrating off of him, as if one popped button and all the passion I suspected lurked behind that calm facade would rush out like a levee break.
I looped my arms around Foster’s neck, holding on and losing myself to the moment. Pike’s hands pressed against my hips as he trailed kisses along my shoulder. The two men’s scents swirled around me, and my body’s engine kicked into gear, warming me in all the right places.
“Take off her dress, Pike,” Foster directed as he pulled away from the kiss, his eyes like blue fire. “I wanted to take my time with you, angel. But that’ll have to be later. I’ve spent too many nights listening through the wall to those soft sounds you make when you come, imagining what you look like when you climax. I’m not willing to wait another moment to see all of you.”
The proclamation was like being doused with hot water, sending need cascading over me. Pike’s fingers tugged my zipper down in the back, his lips following the track of skin exposed. After planting a kiss on the dip at my tailbone, he straightened and eased the dress down and off me. The material fell to my feet, leaving me standing between them in only my lacy panties and bra. Near naked that fast. No backing out now. Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God.
The hotel room’s air-conditioning was blasting, but the cool air did nothing to ease my burning skin as Foster’s gaze trailed over me. “It’s a crying shame that you’ve been hiding under scrubs all this time.” He cupped the side of my face, running a thumb over my cheek and meeting my eyes. “You’re stunning, Cela.”
I looked down, my hair falling forward. I’d been told I was pretty before. But never before had those words sounded so genuine, so stripped down. It was almost as if Foster hadn’t wanted the compliment to escape, but couldn’t help himself.
Pike stepped around from behind me and smiled a smile that unwound the last tangle of tension inside me. Foster’s intensity had always drawn me, had laced my fantasies, but Pike’s sexy boldness brought out my confidence. Shame had no place here with these two. They weren’t here to judge me on my sexual prowess or experience. And they’d never laugh me. They wanted me. And I wanted them. That was all that mattered tonight.
I’d figure out the rest as I went along.
“Tell us what’s on your mind, gorgeous,” Pike said. “What’s making you bite your lip?”
I paused, not even realizing what I’d
